The Colography study focuses on three product categories, in each of which FedEx exhibited muscle. “FedEx showed impressive balanced strength across its three main product lines in the third quarter and the first nine months, and its momentum shows little signs of abating,” says Ted Scherck, Colography president. All figures here are based on the Colography report.
In less-than-truckload market, Yellow Roadway, the only national carrier, controlled 18.2% of the market. Of the five other carriers Colography defines as “super-regionals,” combined FedEx Freight, USFreightways, Overnite Transportation, ABF Freight and the Con-Way group held sway on 46.2% of the market with FedEx Freight the only carrier of all to show sequential shipment growth. Overall in the third quarter, 33.6 billion pounds moved in 32.4 million shipments in the market segment.
Through the third quarter, there were 2.86 billion shipments that comprised the ground delivery market. UPS held 69.2% of the market in the third quarter, but this was down from its 70.3% control in the first quarter of 2003. FedEx Ground was up to 16% as the quarter ended, which was a gain from its 15% in the first quarter. The U.S. Postal Service fell from 9.1% to 8.1% as DHL climbed to 3.1% from its previous 2.6%.
In air freight, UPS and DHL showed small market share gains, while FedEx Express moved up from its first quarter control of 28.9% of the market to 29.8%. The Postal Service controlled 35.1% in the third quarter.
